Sony cut e-reader prices, but did they reduce them enough?

Never one to give up a battle early, Sony have dropped the retail price of all 3 Sony ereaders. (I could already find them at these prices or cheaper, anyway.) The Pocket Edition is now $149, the Touch Edition $169, and the Daily Edition $299. Unfortunately, Sony didn't reduce the prices as much as they should have.

I've been pondering ereader prices ever since the 7 hour price war last week. My first thought when I heard the Kindle price cut was that Sony was screwed, and my second thought was that I'm not sure they can afford to reduce prices to match the market.

Sony have priced the Pocket Edition at the same price as the Nook Wifi, even though the Pocket Edition does not have Wifi, annotation abilities, and (this one's the killer) the Pocket Edition is limited to only 512 MB of storage! (no SD card slot) IMO, the Pocket Edition should cost $99. It is the least capable ereader on the market and it should be priced less than all others including the Aluratek Libre ($120, Borders). Prediction: The Pocket Edition is going to discontinued this summer or fall.

The Daily Edition is also overpriced. It has 3G, a touchscreen, and a screen only slightly larger than the Kindle or Nook. It really should be priced at or near $199. It is only slightly more capable than either the Nook or the Kindle, so its current price is too high for what it can do.

I think Sony could be the first major victim of the ereader price war.

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Nate Hoffelder

Nate Hoffelder is the founder and editor of The Digital Reader. He has been blogging about indie authors since 2010 while learning new tech skills weekly. He fixes author sites, and shares what he learns on The Digital Reader's blog. In his spare time, he fosters dogs for A Forever Home, a local rescue group.

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3 Comments

igorsk1 July, 2010

I think this is just a stopgap measure before they announce their new Pearl based lineup.